Game play can be challenging, sometimes even with the easier difficulty settings

Cons:

Graphics are under whelming

Most features need to be unlocked, including difficulty

Trixel is another strategy puzzle game. The goal is to flip tiles to correctly match a pre-determined puzzle pattern. when you flip a tile, that influences what other tiles can be flipped, so you need to plan a strategy rather than just go randomly flipping around.

When playing, you start of with a game board that shows colored tiles. In the upper left corner, you see a pattern you are supposed to create. You start off in the center, and move the cursor around one tile at a time, flipping the tile over in the process. By flipping a tile, you change the color, and thus change the pattern. However, the trick is that when you flip a tile, that cursor moves, limiting the next time onto which you can move. So you need to plan ahead a method to move around the game board to end up with the pattern you want to create.

As you flip tiles, the game keeps track of the moves you make. You need to solve the puzzle in a certain number of moves in order to unlock the next puzzle. Based on the number of moves you require, you can get either a bronze, silver, or gold trophy for each puzzle.

In addition, you can unlock various bonus features (like an undo feature) that allows special actions on the game board. This is one way that you are encouraged to keep playing - you want to try to unlock all the features and options!

There are a two play modes - including free play and race the clock. In free play, you are simply trying to solve the puzzle. In race the clock, as you would guess, there is a time limit factored in. In addition, there are various bonus puzzles that can be unlocked, crystals that can be collected, and varying difficulty levels that you can adjust. Unfortunately, a lot of the features, including difficulty, need to be unlocked before you can play then.

All in all, there are a wide range of playing options to keep the game fresh and add interest in replaying the game in the future. There are 45 levels all together, with three difficulty levels, so a lot of combinations that can be utilized.

The game controls are very straightfoward and easy to figure out. The graphics themselves are fine. Maybe I am getting spoiled with some of these games, but I am starting to expect a pretty high level of graphic design in some games. The graphics were nice - clean, easy to see, but lacking a "wow" factor. These days, games need that, or something "different" enough to stand out from the crowd. Nothing in the graphics really makes it stand out - the differences are primarilly in the game play.

All in all, this was a fun game, but didn't really do anything to knock my socks off. It was certainly fun to play and ultimately that is the measure of success. I could see myself playing it again in the future, to the replay-ability is there as well. But in presentation, it just seemed somewhat bland, somewhat generic. If you like strategy games, you might want to give this one a shot. Just don't expect any jaw-dropping graphics. Three and a half out of five stars.

Rating scale:

* = No redeeming qualities or features, probably not worth it even if it is free
** = Few redeeming qualities, or is simply isn't worth the price
*** = Some good features but also some clear flaws.
**** = A solid app, worth the money if interested, a few flaws or problems or slightly overpriced
***** = Top of the line app, no problems or drawbacks.

Price is factored into the ratings. Ratings are lowered if I feel the price of the app outweighs the benefits/enjoyment/features it provides. Likewise, an app that is a good value for the money will have a higher rating.

The graphics look like rubbish, but you've made me interested enough to give it a shot and at only .99c its far from a major investment. Hopefully the developer will make enough money off this app to justify reworking the graphics to be more pleasing to the eye.